All Trolls Go To Heaven

Chapter 2

     Poppy posed with the rest of the village, smiling, as she finished off her song.

     "Morning Branch!" she finally shouted, happily, turning to him, but he was gone. "Branch?" she said, looking around, confused.

     Finally she spotted him, running off to catch him.

     "Branch! Wait!"

     She caught up to him, as he bent down to recollect his sticks.

     "What do you want, Poppy?" he asked, dryly, not even looking up at her.

     "You're invited!" she shouted happily.

     He looked up at her, seeing she was holding out an invitation.

     "Poppy..." he sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his thumb and pointer finger.

     "I know!" Poppy interrupted. "I'm excited to! It's gonna be the best birthday party ever!"

     She handed him the invitation, smiling wide.

     Branch looked at the invitation, glitter shooting out onto his face.

     "Grrr..." he growled, softly, annoyed by Poppy's relentless positivity.

     Slowly, he reached up, wiping the glitter off of his face.

     "So... you coming?" Poppy asked, hopefully, wiggling the invitation a bit, so he would take it from her.

     Branch took the invitation, looking at it.

     Finally, he looked back up at Poppy, smiling a bit.

     She gasped with joy, getting super excited, anticipating that his answer would finally be yes.

     Branch's smile quickly faded into a glare.

     "No," he answered, throwing the invitation onto the ground, before stomping off.

     Poppy looked at him, shocked, as if he hadn't said no to the billions of other parties she invited him to in the past.

     "N... no? But... but Branch..." she said, picking up the card, before running off after him. "It's my 14th birthday party! You have to be there!"

     "Nope..." Branch replied, continuing to walk.
"Please, Branch," Poppy begged.
"No," Branch denied.

     He went to climb into his bunker, but Poppy quickly stopped him.

     "Please... just think about it..." she said, handing him the invitation again.

     Slowly, he took it from her, looking at it, sadly.

     Secretly... he did want to go. He hated being alone all the time, but he was scared. Scared of caring too much. If he let out his true feelings for Poppy... let himself get too close... and then something happened... he just couldn't go through that heartbreak again.

     He sighed, looking away sadly, before regaining his glare.

     "I wouldn't be caught dead at your party," he said, crumpling up the invitation, and then throwing it onto the ground.

     Poppy frowned, looking away, sadly, as Branch slammed his hatch shut, locking himself inside.

     She sighed, and then turned, slowly walking away, her head low.

     After she was gone, a click suddenly rung through the silence. It was the sound of Branch unlocking his hatch.

     He peeked out, making sure the coast was clear, and then grabbed the invitation off the ground, un-crumpling it, so he could look at it again.

     A tear escaped his eye, slowly sliding down his cheek, as he looked at the invitation.

     'Branch, Your Invited!' it said on the front of the card.

     Finally, he sighed again, wiping away his tear, as he went back into his bunker, locking the hatch once again.